Joseph Macauley

Joseph Harper Macauley (1 April 1891 – 6 October 1967), sometimes credited as Joseph Macaulay, was an American actor and singer born in San Francisco, California, to James H. Macauley and Carrie Cohn Macauley. Before pursuing a career in the performing arts, he studied law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. He trained as a baritone, first under Henry Bickford Pasmore in San Francisco, participating in student recitals in May and October 1914, and later under Estelle Liebling in New York City.

Macauley's early professional work took place in Northern California between 1913 and 1915. He performed with the Players' Club in San Francisco and Oakland, taking on roles such as William Pargetter in John Masefield's The Tragedy of Nan in 1913 and Fitton in Arthur Wing Pinero's The Amazons in 1914. He also worked with the theatre troupe of Garnet William Holme, appearing in outdoor amphitheaters including the Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre on Mount Tamalpais, where he played the chamberlain Parvatayna in Kalidasa's Shakuntala in 1914 and returned as Rip Van Winkle in 1915. Among his other roles with Holme's company were Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1914 he starred in Charles Wakefield Cadman's Sons of Spain at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea. In 1916 he joined a touring Shakespeare company led by actor John E. Kellerd, playing the Prince of Morocco in The Merchant of Venice, before relocating to New York City, where he trained under George Arliss as a member of The Theatre Workshop in 1916–1917, a program that presented productions at college campuses and high schools across New York and Connecticut.

His professional New York debut came on November 15, 1917, when he performed in two one-act plays — Robert Emmons Rogers' Behind a Watteau Picture and Robert H. Davis's Efficiency — as part of the grand opening of the Greenwich Village Theatre, where he appeared as a member of the Washington Square Players. He remained a regular presence at that theatre through 1920, taking on roles including Dr. Schou in Hjalmar Bergström's Karen opposite Fania Marinoff, The Captain in Eugene O'Neill's Ile, the shepherd Geron in Maurice Hewlett and Harley Granville-Barker's Pan and the Young Shepherd, King Duṣyanta in Kalidasa's Shakuntala, Thomas Houlihan in Lennox Robinson's The Lost Leader, and Norbert in Jacinto Benavente's The Passion Flower.

Macauley made his Broadway debut in 1921 at the 48th Street Theatre, portraying King Stefan in Sonya, an English-language adaptation of Gabriela Zapolska's Der Zarewitsch translated by Alexander Wyckoff. After playing Dr. Henry Arnold in Lillian Barrett's The Dice of the Gods in Chicago and on tour, he brought the role to Broadway's National Theatre in April 1923. Later that year he appeared as the Vizier in Zelda Sears and Harold Levey's musical The Magic Ring at the Liberty Theatre. On December 28, 1923, he originated the role of the Inquisitor, Brother John Lemaître, in the world premiere of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan at the Garrick Theatre.

The mid-1920s saw Macauley appear alongside Fanny Brice, Oscar Shaw, and Grace Moore in Irving Berlin's fourth annual Music Box Review at the Music Box Theatre in 1924. He continued creating roles in original Broadway productions throughout the decade, including Angelo Terrie in Don't Bother Mother at the Little Theater in 1925, Freman in John Galsworthy's A Bit of Love at the 48th Street Theatre in 1925, Baron Frederick in Rudolf Friml, Otto Harbach, and Oscar Hammerstein II's The Wild Rose at the Martin Beck Theatre in 1926, and Archibald Grosvenor in a 1927 Broadway revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience at Theatre Masque. Further credits from this period include Prince Hussein in Kiss Me! at the Lyric Theatre in 1927, Tony Mustano in Sigmund Romberg's The Love Call at the Majestic Theatre in 1927, Aramis in Friml and P. G. Wodehouse's The Three Musketeers at the Lyric Theatre in 1928, and Alvarez Romano in George and Ira Gershwin's Show Girl at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1929.

In 1930 Macauley created the leading male role of Paul Wilson in Rudolf Friml's Luana at Hammerstein's Theatre. The following year he appeared in a series of Gilbert and Sullivan productions with The Civic Light Opera Company at Erlanger's Theatre, performing Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, Giuseppe Palmieri in The Gondoliers, Archibald Grosvenor in Patience, Strephon in Iolanthe, and the Counsel in Trial by Jury. In 1932 he originated the role of Rodney St. Clair in Irving Berlin and Moss Hart's Face the Music at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and in 1933 he returned to Broadway as Dr. Falke in an English-language adaptation of Die Fledermaus. His Broadway career spanned more than four decades and encompassed over 40 productions, with credits also including Gypsy Lady and The Pirates of Penzance. He originated parts in works by Shaw, Eugene O'Neill, and John Galsworthy, and appeared in original casts of musicals by Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Frederick Loewe, and Rudolf Friml.

His final stage role was Tom Keeney in the original Broadway cast of Funny Girl, a production he joined in 1964 and continued performing in until shortly before his death on 6 October 1967. Beyond the stage, Macauley made his film debut in 1930 as Alberto in the United Artists production The Lottery Bride. On television, he took over the role of Ben Fraser, Sr. in the soap opera From These Roots from actor Rod Hendrickson in 1961, ultimately appearing in 266 episodes of the series. He also made guest appearances on programs including Naked City and I Spy.